April 2017
founded in Cape Town, South Africa
23 years
our founder's time in technology sales and marketing
Level 1
B-BBEE contributor
500 buyers
surveyed in 2026, then two AI systems tested against what they told us
Since 2017
Almost a decade in the market you sell into.
Blacfox began in Cape Town in April 2017 and turns ten in April 2027. Kerushan Govender founded it after a career in technology sales and marketing that is now in its 23rd year, including about ten years leading sales at Microsoft. We still work in that world, with the partners, providers and software companies that sell complex technology to other businesses.
Our early work was campaigns for the Microsoft partner channel, with leads called and qualified by phone. Over the years the work moved closer to the sale. Today most of our time goes into listening. We research the market, and we run discovery with the people in a deal you want to win. We call the method Power Listening™, and Blacfox is the first Power Listening™ agency. Our people do the thinking and write the content, one account at a time. AI helps with analysis and first drafts.
The lesson that shaped us most is simple. Buyers decide on the differences between you and the alternatives, and features you share with every competitor give them no reason to choose you. Most of the job is finding the one or two differences that matter, and hearing them from buyers.
April 2017
Blacfox starts in Cape Town
Kerushan Govender founds Blacfox at Century City, Cape Town.
The early years
Campaigns across the Microsoft partner channel
We ran campaigns for Crayon, Liquid Telecom, Westcon-Comstor and Adept ICT, including a national partner roadshow, a joint webinar for customers and partners, and leads called and qualified by phone.
2023
Age of Agency: Rise with AI
KG's first book, published by Taylor and Francis.
2026
500 real buyers surveyed
We then tested two AI systems against what those buyers told us. The paper is under academic review.
Early 2027
Power Listening: Hear What Machines Miss
KG's second book, published by Wiley. It sets out the method behind our work: where selling needs a person, and where AI can help.
2027 and on
The same work, with the method in print
The job stays the same: listen carefully, and help people who sell technology improve their chances in their most important deals.
What we believe
Four things we believe, and you can hold us to.
01
Listening is a revenue skill.
The better a seller understands the buyer, the better their chance of winning the deal. That understanding comes from listening closely to what buyers say. Power Listening™ is the method we built around it.
02
Understanding is where income comes from.
Income comes from creating value. Value comes from understanding what the buyer needs. Understanding comes from listening. We start every engagement there, because everything we do later depends on it.
03
The listening stays with people.
Understanding the person behind a purchase takes a person's attention and judgement, so we do that work ourselves. We do the writing too. A person here writes every deck and every paper, with AI helping on analysis and first drafts. Each one is only as good as the listening behind it.
04
Commerce done honestly is a good thing.
Trade gives people a way to earn their own living, and that matters to us. It is also why we will not promise an outcome that is outside our immediate control. We will tell you plainly what improves your chances, then do that work with you.
Machines can hear; only people can listen.
In the founder's words
“Listening is a revenue skill.”
Kerushan Govender
The founder
Who you will be talking to.
Kerushan Govender, KG to most people, founded Blacfox in 2017 and still runs it. He has 23 years in technology sales and marketing, including about ten years leading sales at Microsoft. He finished there as Area Head for public sector across the Middle East and Africa, based in Dubai. Before Microsoft he worked in technology and investment banking, and his career began with a year of training in Europe and the United States.
He wrote Age of Agency: Rise with AI (Taylor and Francis, 2023). His second book, Power Listening: Hear What Machines Miss, comes out with Wiley in early 2027. It sets out the method Blacfox works by: where selling needs a person, and where AI can help. In 2026 his firm surveyed 500 real buyers and tested two AI systems against what those buyers said. The paper is under academic review, and his research is now moving toward doctoral study.
He teaches Partnering with AI at GIBS, serves as Co-President of the American Marketing Association's New York chapter for 2026, and writes every week at Make it rAIn for rainmakers, the people who bring in the business.
Founder and CEO
Kerushan Govender (KG)
Founded Blacfox in April 2017. Statistician by training.
From the book
Hear what machines miss.
Where we work
Based in Cape Town. Working in English-speaking markets around the world.
Our office is in the Bridgeways Precinct at Century City, Cape Town. We prefer to work in English-speaking markets, and we have worked with technology companies across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. Since 2017 our clients and partners have included Microsoft, SAP, Google and Huawei.
Blacfox Enterprises (Pty) Ltd is a level 1 B-BBEE contributor. Kerushan Govender is our Information Officer, registered with the Information Regulator with effect from 1 July 2021 (registration 60471/2021-2022/IRRTT).
Where you will find us
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Africa
- Europe and the Middle East
- Asia and the United States
Writing
A weekly piece for rainmakers.
KG writes every week at Make it rAIn for rainmakers, the people who bring in the business. Most of what we believe about listening, selling and AI is worked out there first, before it reaches our work with clients.
In short
What this means for your next deal.
The seller who understands the buyer best has the better chance, and that understanding comes from listening. It was true when we started in 2017, and all our work still rests on it. It is also why we stay with you until the closing presentation.
Tell us where a deal is stuck, or where your positioning is not landing.
Perhaps you are not sure how to position what you sell, how to stand out from the alternatives, or how to get the market to notice the value you offer. We will listen first, then tell you plainly whether we can help.